


Research and Development

by deviantredhead



Series: The Secret Life of Mutants [1]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Explicit Language, F/M, Implied Sexual Content
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-16
Updated: 2019-03-16
Packaged: 2019-11-18 23:01:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18127652
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deviantredhead/pseuds/deviantredhead
Summary: A down on her luck graduate student stumbles onto the opportunity of a lifetime:  The chance to speak to an Asgardian god.





	1. SIghtings of the Redheaded Kind

The first time he saw her was on the helicarrier. He was handcuffed, being led to his (temporary) imprisonment, a smirk upon his face because really mortals? Did they really think they could hold a god for long?

_Midgardians… they are not smart._

And there she was, standing off to the side, not staring like the others were. Her head was down, engrossed in something completely unrelated.

He wanted her attention, at the time he wasn’t sure why. Perhaps because he was still high on the effects of the scepter. Or perhaps because she stood out like a sore thumb among the sea of dull blacks, greys and blues.

She was completely uninterested in her future king. Stupid, beautiful wench.

She happened to look up at just the right time, locking eyes with his. Bright green eyes unlike any he had ever seen outside his own. Brilliant red hair that cascaded in waves down to her shoulders. And skin so pale she almost didn’t look real.

He smiled smugly toward her, turning his head to be sure that she continued to watch him. She was beautiful, the kind of unusual beauty and form that he found attractive.

_Join me in my chambers later darling, he thought wickedly… you won’t regret it. And you’ll be kneeling to your king while I fuck you senseless over and over, all the while you screaming my name._

He laughed out loud at the thought. Drunk on power, wanting to quickly defeat the Midgardians, and perhaps take a willing soul back with him as he took his throne.

The look she shot him was not at all what he had expected. It was like she looked right into his soul, and could see… everything.

_Take that, brother, you and your stupid scientist. I want this one. Badly._


	2. Hardly an Interrogation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An uncomfortable interview with a less than willing demigod.

The last time he saw her was down in the cells where the most dangerous prisoners resided. Things were different now. His attempt at conquering Midgard had failed. He was weak, tired, and embarrassed at all of the things that he had done.

Loki was no stranger to conflict. Most of the time he welcomed it. But as the drugs completely wore off he was nothing more than a pawn in Thanos’ game. His head hurt, his back ached terribly from the torture he’d been subjected to, and his heart hurt. If he had access to a knife, he would most likely have plunged it into his hurting heart. But they made sure he had no such thing.

So he sat, staring off into nothingness. From his cell he could see a dimly lit hallway. There were no other cells down here, mainly because they knew about Loki and his silver tongue, and how he could talk his way out of almost anything. From what he could tell the cell was made of very thick concrete, and sealed so that no magic would break him out. That made him a bit more aware that maybe Midgardians weren’t so stupid.

At first he didn’t know she was there. But he could make her out in the dim light. If it weren’t for her hair and her small stature, he might have missed her altogether. She was sitting with her notebook, furiously scribbling something with a pen.

What on earth was she doing? What the hell could she possibly be writing? He rose to his feet and approached the glass. Delicately tapping, then more loudly, trying to get her attention. The redhead was startled out of her thoughts as she realized that the god was doing it. And gesturing for her to come to the cell.

Odd.

What the hell does he want? He looked at me like he wanted to eat me for dinner earlier. Or a light snack.

Cautiously she approached the box, and pressed the speaker button. “You know if you’re going to sit there and stare at me the least you can do is talk to me.”

“I believe you were the one doing the staring, but ok I’ll go with that.” She replied. “I’m not supposed to be talking to you.”

“And yet here you are, doing just that.” He sneered, not sure what to think of her motivations at this point.

“Oh well they think that you’re going to use your magic spells on poor old unsuspecting me.”The redhead replied with a bit of a snort.

Loki asked “Does that upset you?”

Sighing loudly with a slight eye roll she replied “No… I’m not that easily manipulated.”

Loki contemplated his next words carefully.  “Tell me darling, in the hallway earlier, it felt like you reached into my head and scrambled my brains a bit.”

A light laugh.  “You looked like you wanted to eat me.”

A wicked smile spread across his face. It reminded her of the Grinch when he realized his evil plan. “Not in the sense you’re thinking.”

She made a face, then shook her head. “I’d rather just give you head and be done with it.”

His eyes widened. Certainly not the reaction he expected. This girl was not afraid of him, not one little bit. “So that’s a no.”

“Well, they won’t let me in there so I guess the only way that’s gonna happen is if you come out. If you do that I’m impressed and I would happily suck your dick three times over.”

He shook his head with laughter. “You are… so very odd.”

“Not really, I have three brothers and no shame.” She said with a shrug, and thenwent back to her notebook.

After a few moments of silence Loki couldn't stand it any longer.  “What are you doing?”

“Research.” Was her short reply.

“I never consented to any research.” Loki retorted.

“New York never consented to you destroying it.” She pulled out her pen. “Oh that’s good. I like that.”

He replied in exasperation.  “Don’t write that down.”

She looked right at him, and kept writing.

“Is this what you do? Sit and mock people?”  Loki asked, trying to sound innocent, when in fact he sounded far from it.

“No. I study people. Actually I study their thought processes."  She shot him a satisfied smile.   "You’re a fascinating case.”

“Well, write quickly then. They’ll be taking me away soon.”  The inflection in his voice was one of exasperation.

Samantha attempted to be professional, even though it went against every fiber of her being.  “Yes and how does that make you feel?”

He frowned. “You’re mocking me again. I don’t like that.”

She gave him a reassuring smile.  “All right I’ll stop. Don’t worry, I’m not a psychiatrist. That was a little bad psychology humor.”

Leaning forward he asked.  “Then why exactly are you here researching me?”

“Mostly trying to prove other people wrong that you’re not a psychotic killer.” Was her measured reply.  "Because I see things in shades of grey instead of black and white."

“So you’re a profiler?"  He asked, genuinely interested in what she was doing."

“No, no.   Just a lowly graduate student needing information for a paper.”

Well he might as well know the name of the person asking him so many questions. “Do you have a name?”

“Most people just say ‘Hey you’.” She replied, undeterred.

He shook his head and rolled his eyes a bit.

“It’s Samantha.” She muttered.

A beautiful name to be honest.  Now she had his attention. “What does that mean?”

“It means my name is Samantha. If it helps, my brothers used to call me salamander.” She grimaced as soon as the words left her mouth.

An amused smile managed its way upon his face for a moment. “Brothers. What do they know?”

“Right?” She scribbled something else down on her tablet.

Loki leaned forward, trying to get a glimpse of what she had written. Her handwriting was terrible. “What do you have down so far?”

“Narcissist, power hungry, sexual deviant-I have that one with an asterix because I think you initially wanted to fuck me but now you’re more scared that I’d actually do it. Misunderstood, easily manipulates others, which is actually kind of a positive thing. Issues with parent, I’m going to say… father?”

Loki looked away.

“Oh come on, it’s more fun if you look at me.”She chided.

After a moment he finally turned his attention back to the redhead. “Is that really what I boil down to for you?”

“No."  She paused dramatically for effect.  "I also see a powerful sorcerer who deserves more than he’s ever received in his lifetime. Understanding, affection, kindness.”

Loki cocked his head curiously, not quite sure what to think of this girl. “What do you do exactly?”

The redhead chewed on her lip a moment before explaining herself.  “I look at people, try to sort them out, note their positive qualities, and why they feel the way they do. Why are they evil? Why do some people turn completely evil?”

“And me?”He hissed.

“I think you have potential to be something important.”Was her measured reply.

Loki spoke before thinking, which was unusual for him.  “You don’t think I’m evil?”

“I think you need different parents.” She said with a chuckled. “No I don’t believe you’re totally a bad person. Now of course, they have to convince SHIELD of that.”

The god rolled his eyes, trying to act like she was completely wasting his time.  “Regardless of what you think, I believe that I am being sent home with my brother soon.”

“That’s probably good.”

“No, no it’s not. They’ll lock me away. I may never see the light of day again.”

Samantha launched into silence.  While she hadn't observed personally what had happened, she felt torn about things that had taken place.  Did this guy deserve what was about to happen to him?  Probably not.  Was anyone going to even bother to come to his rescue?  Again, probably not. Had she been a lawyer, she'd gladly pony up to the cause, despite the fact that she needed so much more information. Finally after much contemplation she spoke again.  “Can I ask you a question? Not for research, just out of curiosity?”

His response was more of annoyance than compliance. “I suppose.”

“Your eyes. Are they blue or green?” She asked with genuine curiosity.

He gave her a bit of a confused look. “My eyes.. they have always been green. I mean, they always appear green.”

She nodded, thinking about his response before replying.  “That's interesting.  They weren’t green when I first saw you though. They were this glowing blue. It was strange.”

Loki nodded. “I believe I was under the spell of the scepter. What color are they now?”

“Green. I don’t think I’ve ever met anyone with eyes the same color as me. I mean I've met people with green eyes, but not the same shade of green."  She sighed audibly.  "That’s weird.”

“I think you’re about to be reprimanded.” Loki said, eyes intent on something behind her.

An agent had appeared as if from nowhere.  “Miss Ascher, may I remind you what we discussed?”

“Right.” She replied, holding up her notebook as if it were evidence that yes, she really was doing what she should.

“Watch the security footage, I’m not doing anything wrong.” She turned back toward Loki and did a strange sort of half bow. “Good day to you.”

“Rude.” She muttered as she pushed past the SHIELD guard.


End file.
